File folders, such as the common folders of manila paper that are used in large quantities in most offices, are normally manufactured, packaged and stored in folded condition. It is often necessary for a supplier of such folders to attach special accessories to each of a batch of them, to meet the requirements of a particular customer or customers. The accessories may take the form of any of a variety of tabs, labels, fasteners or the like, and often the accessories can be installed by means of a machine that operates automatically or semi-automatically and at a fast rate.
However, before accessories can be installed, the file folders must be unfolded; and heretofore no satisfactory device has been available for automatically unfolding file folders. As a result, unfolding has had to be performed by hand, in a slow and very tedious operation that substantially slowed the production of accessorized file folders and increased their cost. A proficient worker can manually open 12,000 to 14,000 file folders during an eight-hour working day, but fasteners can be installed on about 70,000 folders during the same period, so that at least four persons must be employed in opening folders to keep up with fastener installation.
The majority of file folders are sold without accessories. Therefore, it would not be economical to produce unfolded folders especially for installation of accessories, because production of unfolded folders would require costly modifications of folder manufacturing equipment and would create problems with respect to storage, inventory and folding after accessories are applied.
So far as is known, only one attempt has been made to produce a machine for opening file folders automatically, and it has not been successful. From the fact that file folders continue to be opened manually in many shops, it is evident that the provision of a machine for performing this operation automatically has heretofore been beyond the reach of skill in the relevant art.